History Main / EntropyAndChaosMagic

* ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' has Chaos Magic, which incorporates both increases in entropy and manipulation of probability. Oddly enough, it's mainly used by the [[ChaoticNeutral Dragon]], who oppose any form of stagnation - as in, exactly what entropy causes. [[note]] Science note: Entropy, in a nutshell, is the tendency of things to revert to more stable and unchanging states.[[/note]]

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* ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' has Chaos Magic, which incorporates both increases in entropy and manipulation of probability. Oddly enough, it's mainly used by the [[ChaoticNeutral Dragon]], who oppose any form of stagnation - as in, exactly what entropy causes. [[note]] Science note: Entropy, in a nutshell, is the tendency of things to revert to more stable and unchanging states.[[/note]]

** Dragaeran sorcery is powered indirectly by a vast natural deposit of Amorphia, but is regulated by the Imperial Orb to which all Dragaeran citizens have a psychic link. The Orb's stabilizing influence keeps the Amorphia from going out of control and frees sorcerers from needing to have any Amorphia physically present, a fantastic tactical advantage that [[spoiler:the Jenoine AbusivePrecursors launch an invasion in order to learn how to replicate it]].

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** Dragaeran sorcery is powered indirectly by a vast natural deposit of Amorphia, but is regulated by the Imperial Orb to which all Dragaeran citizens have a psychic link. The Orb's stabilizing influence keeps the Amorphia from going out of control and frees sorcerers from needing to have any Amorphia physically present, a fantastic tactical advantage that [[spoiler:the [[spoiler:pushes the Jenoine AbusivePrecursors to launch an invasion in order to try to learn how to replicate it]].

* In ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'':** Elder Sorcery is powered by and involves the manipulation of Amorphia, the physical substance of raw chaos. It's a capital crime in the Dragaeran Empire because (a) Amorphia tends to dissolve everything around it into more Amorphia and (b) any MagicMisfire with Elder Sorcery can create a ''lot'' of Amorphia, as exemplified by the deluge that annihilated the old capital city when one guy botched a spell.** Dragaeran sorcery is powered indirectly by a vast natural deposit of Amorphia, but is regulated by the Imperial Orb to which all Dragaeran citizens have a psychic link. The Orb's stabilizing influence keeps the Amorphia from going out of control and frees sorcerers from needing to have any Amorphia physically present, a fantastic tactical advantage that [[spoiler:the Jenoine AbusivePrecursors launch an invasion in order to learn how to replicate it]].

* Chaos Magic in the MarvelUniverse. It was deemed so dangerous that magic users suppressed any knowledge of its existence in order to weaken it. Dr.Strange, ''the Sorcerer Supreme'', said that such a thing didn't exist. Then [[ComicBook/ScarletWitch Wanda Maximoff's]] probability-based mutant power allowed her to make contact with the imprisoned Elder god turned demon Cthon...

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* Chaos Magic in the MarvelUniverse. It was deemed so dangerous that magic users suppressed any knowledge of its existence in order to weaken it. Dr.Strange, ''the Sorcerer Supreme'', said that such a thing didn't exist. Then [[ComicBook/ScarletWitch Wanda Maximoff's]] probability-based mutant power allowed her to make contact with the imprisoned Elder god turned demon Cthon...Chthon...

* ''Fanfic/WhatTheCatDraggedIn'': From seeing [[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug Ladybug and Chat Noir]] in action, [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Natasha and Clint]] were able to accurately deduce that not only are their powers magical in origin, but they operate on a system of magic based around probability.

"Entropy" in particular is one of these scientific concepts which appeals to writers due to its cool, sinister-sounding name and its association with decay. In real life, "entropy" is a physical concept, roughly defined as a measure of disorder and chaos of a given system[[note]] Strictly speaking, the log of the number of possible configurations of the system with the same overall internal energy, which can also be interpreted as an increase in ordering/regularity, just to illustrate how loose the popular interpretation is[[/note]]. Per the second law of thermodynamics, the entropy of an isolated system can only grow, never decrease; the only way to decrease the entropy is for some external force to do work on it[[note]]think about how a messy room will only get messier over time, and it takes someone deliberately cleaning up to restore it to a more ordered state[[/note]]. Since the universe itself (as far as we know) is an isolated system with no external forces that can affect it, this suggests that eventually it will succumb to [[ApocalypseHow/ClassX4 "heat death of the universe"]]: eventually all organized systems will break apart[[note]] Ironically, despite people usually conflating this idea with chaos, the heat death of the universe will result in the most ordered state the universe has ever seen: a sea of matter stretching evenly and uniformly across the entire universe in all directions until the end of time[[/note]]. Hence why chaos-based entities tend to have an OmnicidalManiac vibe to them.

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"Entropy" in particular is one of these scientific concepts which appeals to writers due to its cool, sinister-sounding name and its association with decay. In real life, "entropy" is a physical concept, roughly defined as a measure of disorder and chaos of a given system[[note]] Strictly speaking, the log of the number of possible configurations of the system with the same overall internal energy, which can also be interpreted as an increase in ordering/regularity, just to illustrate how loose the popular interpretation is[[/note]]. Per the second law of thermodynamics, the entropy of an isolated system can only grow, never decrease; the only way to decrease the entropy is for some external force to do work on it[[note]]think about how a messy room will only get messier over time, and it takes someone deliberately cleaning up to restore it to a more ordered state[[/note]]. Since the universe itself (as far as we know) is an isolated system with no external forces that can affect it, this suggests that eventually it will succumb to [[ApocalypseHow/ClassX4 "heat death of the universe"]]: eventually all organized systems will break apart[[note]] Ironically, despite people usually conflating this idea with chaos, the heat death of the universe will result in the most ordered state the universe has ever seen: a sea of matter stretching evenly and uniformly across the entire universe in all directions until the end of time[[/note]].time. This is actually a basic fact about entropy, as higher entropy states tend to be more "soupy"[[/note]]. Hence why chaos-based entities tend to have an OmnicidalManiac vibe to them.

* Entropomancers in ''TabletopGame/UnknownArmies'' have power over luck and accidents, and gain power by deliberarely putting themselves in risky situations. They're earned their nickname of "[[TooDumbToLive Bodybags]]" honestly.

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* Entropomancers in ''TabletopGame/UnknownArmies'' have power over luck and accidents, and gain power by deliberarely putting themselves in risky situations. They're earned their nickname of "[[TooDumbToLive Bodybags]]" honestly. They also tend to be one of the scarier wizard schools in the setting. Many a character might hijack a public bus and drive it against traffic, or play RussianRoulette, but few would do it for a lark because it gives them a power boost.

In a broader aspect, the "magic" from the universe of the Laundry is the manipulation of information entropy: specifically, "agents" of each government/cult are attempting to lower the entropic value of the events that they want to happen while raising the entropic value of events that their rivals want to happen... all without raising the ''thermodynamic'' entropy of the universe to prevent entropic beings (such as the one in The Atrocity Archives) from breaking through and wreaking havoc.

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** In a broader aspect, the "magic" from the universe of the Laundry is the manipulation of information entropy: specifically, "agents" of each government/cult are attempting to lower the entropic value of the events that they want to happen while raising the entropic value of events that their rivals want to happen... all without raising the ''thermodynamic'' entropy of the universe to prevent entropic beings (such as the one in The Atrocity Archives) from breaking through and wreaking havoc.

In a broader aspect, the "magic" from the universe of the Laundry is the manipulation of information entropy: specifically, "agents" of each government/cult are attempting to lower the entropic value of the events that they want to happen while raising the entropic value of events that their rivals want to happen... all without raising the ''thermodynamic'' entropy of the universe to prevent entropic beings (such as the one in The Atrocity Archives) from breaking through and wreaking havoc.

* In the first book of ''Literature/TheLaundryFiles'', by Charles Stross, Bob Howard investigates a parallel universe where [[spoiler:the Third Reich]] managed to summon an entropy being which caused the heat-death of their universe, and is trying to infiltrate the main universe [[spoiler:by manipulating human governments to nuke the portal, "creating" enough information entropy so that it could expand the portal and squeeze through]].

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* In the first book of ''Literature/TheLaundryFiles'', by Charles Stross, Bob Howard investigates a parallel universe where [[spoiler:the Third Reich]] managed to summon an entropy being which caused the heat-death of their universe, and is trying to infiltrate the main universe [[spoiler:by manipulating human governments to nuke the portal, "creating" portal]], which would "create" enough information entropy so that it could expand the portal and squeeze through]].through.

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